How to Successfully Hire Seasonal Employees

There are thousands of job openings each summer and winter for seasonal employees. However, 79% of employers find that it has been difficult to hire in recent months.

When you are hiring seasonal employees, you may need extra help finding high-quality employees to work for your company during the upcoming busy season.

Are you hiring employees for seasonal work? Keep reading this article for the top tips for hiring the best seasonal employees.

Understand Your Hiring Needs

Before you can begin hiring seasonal employees, it is important that you have a rough estimate of your seasonal hiring needs. You can do this by looking at sales data from past years and by projecting the trends for the current year.

If you have a good idea of how busy you will be, you can hire the right number of employees to prevent being overstaffed or understaffed. You should also consider if you will be hosting any large sales or promotional offers that will attract more customers.

Start Hiring at the Right Time

You need to start your hiring process at the right time. If you are hiring for the summer or winter, you need to start months in advance to find enough available employees.

To hire at the right time, you should also consider where your employees come from. For example, many people hire college students during the summer months. In these cases, you may want to start the hiring process before the end of the school year.

By starting early, you will be able to find high-quality employees who need seasonal work.

Use a Staffing Company

Staffing companies are a great resource for you to find seasonal help. They already have a database full of prescreened candidates for you to choose from and are experts at finding more if needed. They will save you time and money and take the headache out of recruiting seasonal workers.

Look For the Right Candidates

When you are hiring employees for seasonal work, you need to source the people who only want or need short-term work. If you hire people who are hoping for permanent work, they may be disappointed if you do not hire them after the season is over. However, there are many people who are looking for temporary work.  For example, people who are looking for new jobs may only want to work for a month or two while they are interviewing. By sourcing these types of candidates, you will find people who are happy with seasonal work and are not interested in a longer commitment.

Create Great Job Descriptions

One of the most important parts of the hiring process is the job description. This is what will attract or deter potential candidates.

When you are creating a job description, you need to be clear about the schedule you expect from your seasonal employees, information about their compensation, and other expectations.

Use Screening Tools

When you are conducting high-volume hiring, you might be getting dozens of applications each day. This can make it hard to filter through each of your potential candidates to find the right ones. To improve the efficiency of your seasonal hiring process, you may want to consider investing in screening tools or a talent management system. This will help you select qualified workers quickly and efficiently and help you prepare for the busy season ahead.

Look For Return Candidates 

Remember to reach out to all the candidates who have worked seasonal jobs for you in the past. They already know your job, company, and culture so it an easy hire. Treat your seasonal employees well and if they are unable to return, they will likely send you referrals.

Need Seasonal Employees? We Can Help

If you are looking for a staffing agency for seasonal hires, Molly Brown Temps can help! Contact our team today to learn about our local staffing services and to find the best seasonal employees.